


A Dance Of Mockery

by Eruanna_the_Fool



Series: A Dance With Destiny [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Dark Merlin (Merlin), Evil Merlin (Merlin), I love him, M/M, Merlin Takes Camelot (Merlin), Merlin Takes The Throne (Merlin), Powerful Merlin (Merlin), because I'm scared of him, but also hate him, everything's just so so wrong, taking my comfort character and putting him to unimaginable misery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eruanna_the_Fool/pseuds/Eruanna_the_Fool
Summary: Gwen's eyes snapped to his. "I will not be a pawn in your twisted game!" she yelled without a trace of fear. "I don't even know who you are."Just then, the tailor finished fastening the cloak around his broad shoulders. He spun around with an excited hop, his robes of shimmering gold billowing behind him. "I am Merlin!" he exclaimed with a huge grin.
Relationships: Gwaine/Merlin (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: A Dance With Destiny [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2198448
Comments: 9
Kudos: 49





	A Dance Of Mockery

Gwen abruptly pulled her head away from the piece of fabric thrust in front of her face. An onlooker would think her feet were rooted permanently on the spot if she did not occasionally lift her left shoe as if she considered leaving.

"Feel it, Gwen. Just feel it," said Merlin as the royal tailor took his measurements. "If it isn't just _the softest_ cloth I've ever touched." The midnight blue fabric fluttered invitingly inches away from Gwen. If she was interested, it did not show on her face.

But Merlin paid no attention to her cold silence. Instead, he continued filling it. "I want you to wear the most beautiful dress in the five kingdoms tonight. When I am officially crowned king, I would name you my chief advisor alongside Arthur.

"Are you sure you don't want to be my queen?"

Gwen's eyes snapped to his. "I will not be a pawn in your twisted game!" she yelled without a trace of fear. "I don't even know who you are."

Just then, the tailor finished fastening the cloak around his broad shoulders. He spun around with an excited hop, his robes of shimmering gold billowing behind him. "I am Merlin!" he exclaimed with a huge grin.

He was so alike to her friend that Gwen wanted to cover her ears and close her eyes to will the wrongness away. He had the same smile and the same humour - as if there was nothing amiss at all. Gwen wanted to wake up and cry into the blankets as she realises this had all been a bad dream, but she was not so lucky. He was Merlin in all but in heart. It was as though the man shrouded in gold was a mockery of her friend.

"Stop this," Gwen hissed.

Merlin had a frown on his brow as his head bowed. He glanced up at Gwen through his dark hair with a strange gleam in his eyes, pupils blown too wide than is considered normal. "When Arthur ascended to kingship, you were proud. You're not proud of me right now."

"You have no right to do this! He is your friend."

"And my lover. My _other half_ ," the last words were almost growled out. At Gwen's look of surprise, he added: "But you don't know that, do you? No - because he was ashamed of having fallen in love with a servant such as I. He was especially ashamed of having fallen in love with me - the useless boy who arrived out of nowhere, the clumsy fool. A lowly village boy who can be disposed at the first sense of his displeasure."

Merlin brightened once again. "But I am much more than that!" He laughed. "No one except those who will have my head or will gain from it believed that though." He waved his hand noncommittally. "No matter. I can do so much now without having to hide in plain sight."

When Merlin strolled out of the royal chamber, Gwen released a breath she did not know she had been holding. The tailor looked at her with sympathy but said nothing. A pang of unexpected guilt chilled her, and she ran out of the doors. And ran and ran and ran.

_And ran._ Even though she suspected she would not be able to go far.

* * *

A silent tear trailed down Merlin's cheek as the crown was placed reverently over his head. In a single flash of gold, the thing melted and twisted until threads of metal wove themselves to the fashion of a great deer's antlers. The crowd tensed visibly after the blatant display of magic but stayed silent. The new king of Camelot faced his people, and almost immediately, Arthur was forced to kneel by tendrils of magic at his feet.

Gaius, who was in the front of the gathering, whispered an unheard prayer. The woman beside him, Hunith, bowed her head in woeful regret. Gwen's face broke down as she wept without noise.

It was painful to watch the ceremony, and more painful to watch the former king gaze emptily at the far wall. He had been wearing the knights' livery, well-cared for in all but inside. A whisper of encouragement was spoken in his right ear by a tight-faced Geoffrey. The people waited for seemingly so long a time. Until Arthur muttered in a pained voice: "Long live the king."

A chorus hesitantly gathered in the room, but Merlin only looked down at Arthur with misplaced reverence.

* * *

"Will you at least dance with me?" asked Merlin, sipping his wine.

Gwen, garbed in a flowing midnight blue dress, only looked at him from under her lashes. Merlin shrugged. "I could make you, you know." Almost instantly, a warmth filled Gwen to the core, and she let out a startled noise. Her eyes hooded as they flitted towards the man in flowing golden robes. The feeling was overwhelmingly sweet, and had her knees been less weak at the moment, she would have jumped up to do as he wished.

Merlin's eyes glowed golden once again, and the feeling dissipated. Gwen gasped for air, gripping the edge of the high table and looking to Merlin with a horrified, scandalous expression. She looked away and everywhere but him.

"But I think Sir Gwaine wouldn't mind waltzing with me."

Trancelike, Gwaine walked over to the middle of the abnormally quiet banquet hall.

Merlin extended a pale hand, and Gwaine took it without hesitation. In a wave of his hand, musical notes filled the air. Together, they danced in a graceful ritual, imposing a heavy inviting mood to those who watched. It is no more a dance than a battle cry and a vengeful tirade.

Arthur was transfixed on the pair. Because of course, the movements may seem innocent, but in his eyes, they were a mockery. A cheap imitation of their last dance. Merlin met his eyes ere the dance ended, and as they shared a single kiss, Arthur's heart shattered into a million pieces.

**Author's Note:**

> I love this Merlin but at the same time, hate him for giving Gwen the undeserved bullshit.


End file.
